I received this comment:

Hello Mr. Thomas (I almost called you Dwane because my class refer to you by that), I want to switch from learning Latin, scholastically, to German or Norwegian. The problem is that I don’t have a clue what resources would be good, other than an English-German/Norwegian dictionary.  I would like to know which you recommend, and what resources are best (for both, please).

Thanks.

Here is my reply:

Hi,

You can call me Dwane.  No worries.  🙂

As for Norweigian… I will be exactly no help at all.

German, on the other hand, is the first foreign langauge I fell in love with.  Can’t wait to get back to it, in fact.

I would start by listening to German.  

From easiest to difficult, I recommend the following:

There is a very good podcast produced by Radio Lingua.  It is called Coffee Break German.

Start here: http://radiolingua.com/coffeebreakgerman/

Stick with the free material as long as you can.  It may be all you ever need.  Here is their Facebook page as well: https://www.facebook.com/CoffeeBreakGerman

Another fantastic place to start is Deutsche Welle.  This site alone could take you from 0 to Hero in German.  The courses are organized according to level.  Start with A1.  http://www.dw.de/learn-german/s-2469

Once you have some footing in the language, start listening to Slow German with Annik Rubens.  You will never run out.  She is prolific.  I wish I could be like her.  http://slowgerman.com/

For fun, you will want to check out the videos at Sendung mit Der Maus.  Kids show, but, hey… if you are just starting out anyway, you will find them helpful.

http://www.wdrmaus.de/sachgeschichten/filme.php5

A little advanced, and a bit nutty, is the Extra series.  It’s on You Tube. An American is attempting to learn German.  You will need to know some German basic before you start.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lWQW5_CPGQ

Let me know if you find anything helpful!